Janine Mendes-Franco · June, 2009

Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from June, 2009

Trinidad & Tobago: Smelter & Democracy

  17 June 2009

As a legal ruling causes construction on the proposed Alutrint aluminium smelter to come to a halt, This Beach Called Life comments: “This case is destined to go to the Privy Council and if the EMA (Government) should lose then the reputation of the EMA would be damaged beyond repair...

Bermuda, USA, UK: Fallout over Guantanamo

  16 June 2009

Bermudian bloggers still have not stopped talking about their government's agreement to have four detainees of Guantanamo Bay to resettle on the island. Most of their focus seems to be on the fallout that Premier Ewart Brown is facing following the controversial decision.

Cuba: Welcoming “Granpa”

  16 June 2009

A new SMS service has increased Generation Y‘s faith in the power of technology: “I’ve known about a page called Granpa (we hope it will be more objective than Granma) that sends news to cell phones located in Cuba. Since we don’t have a paper newspaper to tell us everything...

Dominica: Closing for Chavez

  16 June 2009

Dominican blogs discuss whether it was a wise decision for the government to close the airports in order to “facilitate the visit of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.”

Barbados: Aquaponics

  16 June 2009

“Aquaponics is the new way to farm”: Barbados Underground blogs about “its potential to feed Barbadians and at the same time [be] the ideal model for food security.”

Trinidad & Tobago: The Outsiders

  16 June 2009

“We are all begging to be let in. For our voices to be heard. For our opinions to matter. And the father of the nation builds a big tall wall around what is for him and those who support him. Like a club bouncer he gets to say who gets...

Barbados: Tourism and H1N1

  16 June 2009

Barbados Free Press is torn: should Barbados admit a cruise ship at the risk of increasing the incidence of the H1N1 virus – or go for the tourism dollars?

Jamaica: Justice?

  16 June 2009

As ten police officers are forced into retirement following suspicion of their involvement in a lottery scam, Jamaica Salt says: “Instead of bringing criminal charges against them, they have been retired early in the ‘public interest’. Is it just me, or does this seem odd?”

Trinidad & Tobago: In Naipaul's Defense

  15 June 2009

Repeating Islands features a defense of Trinidad-born V.S. Naipaul in which the author “makes a valid point about the separation of the writer’s shortcomings as a person from the texts he has produced.”

Dominica: Chavez’ Visit

  15 June 2009

“It's like the uncle who comes with some cash in his pocket and the whole family gets lined up by the door of a recently cleaned room”: Caribbean Man reports on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’ visit to Dominica.

Trinidad & Tobago: Up in Flames

  15 June 2009

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but who would want to flatter matches?”: From Trinidad and Tobago, This Beach Called Life explains.

Cuba: Prisoners of Conscience

  15 June 2009

Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense refers to a report which claims that there have already been more than 500 political arrests and detentions in Cuba for the year.

Haiti: All Things Haitian

  12 June 2009

“Haitians are passionate, intelligent, dynamic. Artistic and creative”: The Haitian Queen explains why she chose her blogging moniker.

Dominican Republic: Fair Trade Cocoa

  12 June 2009

“The transformation of the Dominican Republic from a producer of low-grade cacao…to a powerhouse in the production of high quality organic cocoa has been one of the most remarkable agricultural developments of the last three decades in the Caribbean”: Repeating Islands has the delicious details.

Trinidad & Tobago: Smelter Protest

  12 June 2009

Rights Action Group T&T republishes a letter to the editor regarding an “imbalanced” news report claiming that an injured baby died as a result of the smelter protests, while This Beach Called Life concocts an imaginary conversation about the protest action between the Prime Minister and Attorney General.